China's Ant Group has offloaded 25.5 million shares of Indian fintech firm Paytm in a block trade, raising approximately $246 million. The shares were sold at ₹823.10 ($9.69) apiece, according to a term sheet reviewed by Reuters.

Ant Group, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, has been gradually reducing its stake in Paytm as part of a broader strategic shift and regulatory pressures in both China and India.

Paytm shares rewarded investors on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, as they surged over 5 per cent in the intraday trade today. At 10:40 AM, Paytm share price was quoting 4.8 per cent higher at Rs 721.9 per share, after hitting an intraday high of Rs 724.25 per share (up 5.1 per cent), as against a 1.13 per cent gain in the benchmark BSE Sensex index.

The rally in Paytm share price came after market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) granted the fintech company's arm, Paytm Money, to operate as a Research Analyst.

Fintech major Paytm said on Thursday it will partner with Perplexity to integrate the artificial intelligence (AI) startup’s search features with its application.

Paytm said the integration will allow its customers users to ask questions, explore topics in Indian languages and make financial decisions.

Paytm has a new feature that allows Android to use QR code on their phone home screens to receive money, without having to open the digital payments firm’s app. 'Receive Money QR Widget' is already available for Apple iOS users.

The widget is a quick and seamless way to accept payments for small businesses, delivery partners, shopkeepers, freelancers and influencers.

Fintech firm One97 Communications, which owns Paytm brand, sees no impact of lower incentives earmarked by the government in the budget for promoting small ticket digital transactions, a top official of the company said.

Speaking on the sidelines of launching "Card NFC Soundbox" machine, Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma denied any impact of lower allocation of incentives to promote small ticket digital transactions on his guidance over profitability this fiscal year.

India's Paytm has got approval from the government for its Rs 50 crore ($5.97 million) investment in a key subsidiary, a top finance ministry official told Reuters on Friday.

The approval, which was stuck for months due to the company's link to China, will remove the main stumbling block to the unit, Paytm Payment Services, resuming normal business operations.

The country's largest securities depository, Central Depository Services India (CDSL), has commenced an examination of Paytm Money's procedures for verifying customers, according to a report by The Economic Times (ET). This scrutiny comes in the wake of regulatory actions against Paytm Payments Bank by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the central bank's directive on January 31.

The RBI's recent directives have resulted in restrictions on most operations of Paytm Payments Bank, including deposits and fund transfers, effective from March 1, 2024.

One97 Communications Ltd (OCL), the parent firm of fintech major Paytm, has denied reports about any investigation by the Enfo­rcement Directorate (ED) into the company, its associates, and its Fou­nder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

The company, in an exchange filing on Sunday, said it had cooperated with the authorities when users or merchants on its platform were subject to enquiries in the past.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions saw their highest-ever value in October, touching Rs 17.16 trillion, up 9 per cent compared to Rs 15.8 trillion in September.

In volume terms, too, transactions touched a new high at 11.41 billion, up 8 per cent compared to 10.56 billion in September.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Paytm's parent One97 Communications, has agreed to purchase a 10.3 per cent stake in the fintech firm from Antfin (Netherlands) Holding BV, the company said in a filing on Monday.

The purchase will be made off-market via Sharma's 100 per cent owned Netherlands-based entity Resilient Asset Management BV. After the transaction, Sharma's stake in the company will rise to 19.42 per cent, and Antfin will cease to be the largest shareholder of Paytm.

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